Ravi Shastri has urged India to pile further pressure on Alastair Cook in the five-Test series which starts next week, suggesting Cook may benefit from being relieved of the national captaincy as Sachin Tendulkar did in his record-breaking career.

Cook received support from India’s captain, MS Dhoni, and coach, Duncan Fletcher, when they arrived in England last week but Shastri, the former spinner and a high-profile media pundit, showed no such restraint.

Speaking at an official launch for the series at Investec’s London headquarters, Shastri suggested India should aim for a repeat of the 1986 tour, when David Gower was deposed as England’s captain after defeat in the opening Test at Lord’s.

“If you have the leader under pressure always go for him,” said Shastri. “You need to get stuck in. You have to make the game as tough as you can. As an India player they will want this debate to continue.

“With David Gower, all we said was don’t let him get runs in the first Test and let the pressure build. He lost the captaincy, India won the series.

“Cook is mentally very tough. He’ll break all records for England. The question is, do you want a captain in Cook who is not playing freely or do you want Cook playing freely as a batsman? That is what happened to Sachin Tendulkar. As captain he felt the pressure was getting to his batting and it was taken away.”